If only dogs could talk. How many times have you heard someone utter those words? Our fascination with dogs and what they may or may not be thinking has riddled the human mind since the domestication of these animals. There have been a plethora of novels written on this very subject, but none quite like Andre Alexis’ Fifteen Dogs.
The Lit Chicks Book Club is comprised of many dog owners, including a veterinarian, so you can imagine the conversations that were had concerning this book. Cleverly written, the story takes place in Toronto, near High Park. It follows the perilous lives of fifteen innocent canines who become the pawns in a cruel wager between Hermes and Apollo, “I’ll wager a year’s servitude, said Apollo, that animals – any animal you chose – would be even more unhappy than humans are, if they had human intelligence” (pg. 14).
The story evokes an array of emotions: frustration, sadness, empathy, anger and disgust. There is betrayal, friendship, murder, neglect and love. Essentially, the novel is not about what dogs think of us, moreover, how they think when they become us. It is truly a candid reflection of being human and the pitfalls that come with obtaining human intelligence. The message: intelligence leads to unhappiness. Of course, the evening we discussed this novel, no one was unhappy.
As you can see in the picture, us Lit Chicks were celebrating the holidays with good food and liquid cheer. I asked my husband to take our picture before dinner and it wasn’t until the end of the evening that I looked at the photo of our group. Apparently, during our discussion of Fifteen Dogs my little canine friend found it necessary to pose for the picture and listen to our conversation, or maybe she was just waiting for the crumbs to hit the floor. Either way, it made me think of not only human intelligence but canine as well. Are we so different from dogs? Perhaps Andre Alexis would be interested in co-writing a sequel based on this picture. We could call it, Fourteen Bitches!
Davis Discussions 